Kingdom Authority

It’s clear in Scripture that we live in two worlds: 

1) The Physical World that we see, touch, taste, feel and hear all around us.

2) The Spiritual World where God reigns with supreme, victorious authority. 

The life of Christ represented defeat of the Physical World's greatest weapon against humanity - death and eternal separation from God. Christ ushered God's Kingdom authority into the physical world and offered that authority to all who follow Him. The choices we make represent our investment in either the Physical world, the Spiritual World or both. When these choices favor the Physical over the Spiritual we become imbalanced and life becomes a relentless, emotional rollercoaster of ups and downs triggered by what we consider to be good and bad experiences. These experiences root themselves in sickness & health… prosperity & poverty… fear & courage… good relationships & broken relationships… and all other sorts of occurrences that are part of our human experience. 

The Joy that our Heavenly Father wants us to experience in life is not our ability to maintain some degree of physical satisfaction while persevering through life unscathed by the peaks and valleys of an emotional rollercoaster. It is the ever-present realization, that even during life’s ups and downs, we can always count on the presence of God in Christ through the power of His Holy Spirit, and live under the shelter of His mighty wings.

The writer of Psalms says it this way:

Psalm 91: 1-2“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most Highwill rest in the shadow of the Almighty.² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 91: 4“He will cover you with his feathers,and under his wings you will find refuge;his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

Would you like to live under the shelter of His Wings as the world all around you storms through the emotions of relentless, painful turmoil? Would you like to rest under the impenetrable force-field of His presence? If so, look to the life of Jesus as your model and standard for life choices. 

We see throughout the New Testament how Jesus transcended the limits of physical life into the greatest depths of relationship with His Heavenly Father to commence the building of God's Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. We find one of many examples of this truth in Mark 1: 10-15. 

The Baptism of Jesus: 

¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus: 

¹² The Spirit immediately led him out into the wilderness. ¹³ And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry: 

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Consider each of these three areas and the remarkable Kingdom Authority that Christ initiated for us as we follow Him!

1. Baptism (Mark 1:10-11) The Baptism of Jesus marked the Coronation of the King of Kings.  At that event the voice of the Heavenly Father made the royal and divine Proclamation that, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” This Baptism established the Kingdom of God on Earth through the Christ.

2. Temptation (Mark 1:12-13) The temptation of Christ revealed His divine royalty. The word for “tempted” in these verses also translates as “proofed or proved”. It was necessary for the World to know that Jesus came as the King/ Messiah and the temptation leaves no doubt for us that the King had come and was proven to be the overcomer of all spiritual darkness. In His temptation Jesus took authority over the usurper of the Kingdom – satan himself). 

3. Ministry (Mark 1:14-15) It was the Ministry of Jesus – the miraculous teaching, preaching, healing, loving that came from the Ministry of Jesus that demonstrated His Mission as King. He came with a Heavenly mandate to reveal the love and authority of the Heavenly Father. He did this as He ministered to the needs of humanity throughout His life by stirring the Physical but always giving priority to the Spiritual.

Now consider Romans 8:17 which declares that we who know Christ are joint heirs with Him to His Kingdom. 

“…and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

And in Luke 17:20-21 the Pharisees questioned Jesus about the Kingdom. Their prideful spiritual deafness would keep them from understanding. But look how Jesus responded to their question: 

"Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” 

Jesus revealed that the Kingdom of God is demonstrated in His redemptive reign. He came to earth to redeem the lost and restore us to right relationship with the Heavenly Father. While the Pharisees were looking for the physical manifestation of God’s earthly King, they missed the the fact that the Spiritual authority of Jesus came to reign over the physical nature of the world. 

To effectively follow Christ we must be careful not to miss the significance of the Spiritual Kingdom in the reign of Jesus.  If we do, all of our theology will be skewed away from the heart of truth that we find in Christ.

How important was the authority of God's Kingdom to Jesus? Look at these seven truths about the establishment of the Kingdom of God through Christ: 

1. Jesus ushered in the Kingdom

Look at the words of Mark 1:15 again: “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The Messiah/ King that Israel has been waiting for was established through Christ over 2000 years ago! 

2. Jesus represents Kingdom.

In Luke 17:21 Jesus declares that “I am the Kingdom of God” when He states, “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you”. Jesus came and proved that He fully represented the Kingdom of God as He carried out the redemptive Mission of God throughout His life, death and resurrection.

3. Jesus provides our Kingdom Mission.

In Luke 4:43 Jesus tells us that he came to “preach the good news of the Kingdom of God”. At the heart of His message is love. Love for the Heavenly Father above all, and to be a reflection for the Father’s love for humanity. In so doing we become engaged in the Mission of the Kingdom. 

4. Jesus revealed Kingdom authority.

Jesus demonstrated that He had Heavenly authority over every Spiritual darkness on earth. In Luke 11:20 He said, “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you”. The enemy had to be defeated for the King to be victorious and Jesus did that without question! 

5. Jesus sends His followers on the Kingdom Mission.

Through the great commission, Jesus gives us the plan to implement His Spiritual Kingdom of earth as it is in Heaven. He passes that authority to us as He ascends into heaven and declares, “all authority in heaven and on earth” was given to Him by the Heavenly Father and He is now extending that to us. (Matthew 28:18). 

6. Jesus paid for the Kingdom.

When Jesus died on the cross He paid the price necessary to purchase all rights to the Kingdom of God on earth. His resurrection from the dead validated His purchase and established for us all authority to now control the Spiritual destiny of mankind. Colossians 2:14 tells us that he, “having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” 

7. Jesus will physically come again as King.

Revelation 19:16 tells us that when Jesus returns He will clearly reveal His identity again as King. “On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” In the meantime, He remains with us Spiritually through the power of the Holy Spirit and our focus must be on His Kingdom which points the World to Him and all of His Kingdom purposes. 

So how do we know that the Kingdom of God is in us? We know because we belong to Christ! But another important question is: How can we know that we are focused on the Kingdom of God which is in us? We know as we begin to realize that our focus is more on the Spiritual than the Physical. We understand that the Spiritual always “trumps” the Physical and we strive to allow the Spiritual life of Christ in us to overcome the Physical adversities we face in life. We ask ourselves often, “Do I spend my day thinking more about what I can accumulate or more about what God can give to the world through me?”